Our Hearts
by CloudJaySeph
Summary: All of life is connected. These bridges, through which all beings pass, are fragile. When one soul's journey ends, he is given the chance to begin again. Wanting to save his connections from the fires of hate, he walks once more, ready to change it all, for their sake. Shame, since he will have to start farther than anyone ever expected him to.
1. An End

It's sad.

Really, it's so sad.

It's so sad that it's surpassed the realm of unfunny and made a round the world trip, just to end back at downright hilarious.

All of the pain, the sadness, the sacrifice…all of it just to get to this one point. It's actually impressive, looking back at the progress they've made. Nobody else can say that they got this far. Nobody else can claim doing the things they did. But in the end, it wasn't enough.

Not even close.

As furious strides slowed to sluggish drags, the end of this long stairway came into view. It's a sight that simultaneously brings both sweet relief and intense worry. What lies at the top of these stairs would end everything, one way or another.

Just a few more steps.

He thinks back on what caused all of this. Before the invasions, before the breach. Years before he was even born. What in good God's name could have set all of this off? Could there have been something that could have stopped it— anything at all? The domino that fell and created this mess called the present—could it have been halted in any way?

Almost there.

Such strange thoughts to have at a time like this, when the future is being decided in one last clash in front of him. They don't matter—his thoughts, his daydreams, his regrets. None of them matter now. All that's left is to reach the top of these stairs and see which path the world has taken.

It's quiet. The furious sounds of blades and anger that once filled the area have stopped. The battle is over.

One last step.

What he sees is an ending.

It's not the one he wanted. Not even close.

An ending of silver mixed with red. Those silver eyes staring back at him. What emotions could they be holding right now? Despair, grief, misery, frustrations, depression…he could only guess. There was one thing he was sure of though.

The one attached to those eyes was sad. The tears flowing from those eyes that ran down her cheeks made that painfully clear. And just like so many times in the past…

…He couldn't do a thing to stop them.

A single step forward.

Two arms reach out to each other. One belonging to scared blue eyes. The other, to tearful silver ones.

Blue stays on silver, for fear of looking below them once more. A body stained in red, impaled by an unholy white, stands below those eyes, mocking him and his uselessness.

Those silver eyes are closing. The lips below them mouth words he couldn't care less about. All he wants is to stop those eyes from crying. To see them shine once more in the sun, and light up in joy and celebration. Yet he can only watch them dim in the darkness of the broken moon.

One hand drops.

Blue eyes too stunned to move can only stare, the body they're attached to not daring to budge an inch. They stare at the corpse that once housed such vibrant silver eyes. The only movement from it now is the red running down the white intruder. Dripping in blood, that white spear points accusingly at him, as if to say all of this is his fault. It holds some truth.

A careless toss.

That's all the attention the corpse gets. One shove to the side like an insignificant piece of trash.

Blue eyes move from the corpse to meet red. Merciless red pupils, surrounded by soulless black sclera, and framed by a tainted white face fill his vision.

Shock ignites into rage. Rage burns into hate. Hate overflows into wrath. Once comforting and soft blue forces itself into a turbulent sea black, begging to drag someone under and not stop thrashing until they did first. Eyes so full of emotion.

A shame they were wasted on ones absent of any.

8 steps.

That's as far as he made it before tainted white pierced his body. It didn't matter that his shield was held in front of him, or that he was wearing armor. At least, not to the dozen or so spears now digging into his back.

He was so tired. Tired of fighting his way up here. Tired of leaving behind each of his friends. Tired of moving forward.

A clang of metal signaled his dropped weapons. They wouldn't help him here. Not anymore.

One step.

Those red eyes, laughing at him. He wanted those eyes to shut up already.

One more step.

The mouth below them, one raised in a small smile, fell. The amusement was gone. But anger did not replace it. Not even annoyance filled the void. He wasn't worth an emotion. The only thing those red eyes deemed to show him now, was apathy.

One last step.

He was a foot away from her now. He could feel proud, knowing that only a handful of people ever got this close. He chose not to.

He knew.

Knew that there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop her now. Knew that with those silver eyes now gone, nothing could get in her way. She won.

They both knew it… which was why it was so shocking to see him smile.

His once shadowed and bowed head rose to reveal a Cheshire grin. Red eyes widened at the gesture. And then…white.

Empty white.

That's all that's around him now. His last move, one forged out of having absolutely nothing left, was one that took everything away. A self-sacrificing move that not only took him, but whatever was standing around him for the next mile as well.

It wasn't enough.

It wasn't even close. He had about as much optimism for that attack ending her as he did for throwing a water balloon and expecting that to work. He knew it was useless.

But the look on her face was so worth it.

He regretted not getting the witch's full real name before he did it though, since now he couldn't curse it for all eternity. Oh well, he had at least a hundred other things he could call her, not one of them the least bit flattering. At least he could rest now. Leave the fighting to someone else for a change.

Or at least, to whoever the hell was left.

He didn't care anymore. He was dead. The only thing he cared about now was if he did enough good in his life to not go to the spooky place with all the fire. If not, at least it would be warm.

Whatever.

It's not like he could do anything now, regrets withstanding or not. All that's left is to fade into oblivion. Closing eyes was his sign to whatever watching force or deity that he was ready.

It was time to let go.

Forever in an instant.

That's how long he waited. Not passed on. Not fade into nothingness. Not return to life's origin.

He waited.

…

…

…

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?

He may not have any experience dying before, but he was pretty sure waiting in an endless sea of white wasn't exactly what the afterlife was supposed to be. If it was, then he was going to punch the next thing with corporeal form he saw, whenever that would be.

Seriously, there was literally nothing else around him while he floated in this…this…nothingness? Ether? Light?

Gods he was gonna lose his mind. That is, he would have if he hadn't already done so and gotten bored of it.

Hallucinations were only amusing until you realized you're talking to yourself, and plotting the destruction of your enemies gets really old when you know you have no way to enact your plans. Oh yeah, he ran the gauntlet of insanity to its end only to circle back to boredom.

The worst part was not even knowing how long it'd been. Seriously, for all he knew, he lost his mind and found it again all in the span of 10 minutes.

Was this some sort of test? Did he have to pass some sort of trial, or experience some sort of epiphany about his life? Because this was getting old.

He meditated. On literally anything and everything he could think of: aura, his reason for fighting, the true role of grimm. Hell, he even contemplated the purpose of each of the colors in the world.

He already went through his life in precise detail several hundred times. Scanned every event, reevaluated his decisions, and even thought on what would have been a better choice.

And he accepted his choices like any wise man would have wanted him to.

Why wasn't that enough?

He already went through hell in his life. Spent who knows how long here in this purgatory. Did everything he could possibly think of to warrant an invitation to heaven. What was left?

Was he supposed to stay angry? Was he supposed to regret everything? Was he supposed to curse the world he left behind and demand a second chance? To challenge the universe and whatever higher power was in charge and demand better for himself? Because that damn well seemed to be the only answer left.

…

Fine. Have it your way.

Taking a deep breath, he paused a moment to ready himself. Then…then he let loose the longest and most profane string of curses he could think of.

Swearing that would give him his own hit rap album. Complaints that would make a child seem humble. Insults that would have any atheist bless his soul.

He screamed them all at whatever the hell was listening in this white space. Screamed them until he ran out of things to say. Screamed until he finally hunched over and let out a sigh. Not because he ran out of breath—he didn't have a real body for that—but because he was done.

This was it. He ran out of options after this. There was literally nothing left he hadn't done.

Still looking toward his feet, he closed his eyes.

He waited, maybe a second, maybe a century.

And then he opened his eyes.

He looked at his hands, clenched them a few times, and realized…

Nothing had changed.

He was still in that endless expanse of white he'd been in for whatever amount of time already.

Oh. Oh, that was it. He'd had enough. Enough beating around the bush. Enough of holding his reward. He inhaled again; ready to unleash another verbal assault on his maybe watcher, coupled with some limb flailing to boot. Ready… until he paused at the sight.

Have those 2 doors always been there?

He blinked, mouth still agape and poised for another tantrum. Closing his jaw, he walked over to the doors.

To his left was a pure white, handsomely crafted door suited for some kind of fairy tale castle throne room. It was huge, easily being as tall as 8 of him standing on each other's shoulders, and half as wide.

It didn't have any handles, but it was split at the middle, meaning he'd have to push his way in. As he stared at it, he could feel nothing but peace radiate from it.

Now if this wasn't the door to heaven, he didn't know what was.

But experience taught him to consider all his options before making a decision, so he held off on choosing this door and looked to the other.

It was old. An aged and weathered wooden door that was growing it's own life. Green moss lay on it's top and at it's feet. A few flowers and weeds decorated the thing too. The golden doorknob was chipped in both paint and structure. All in all, it wasn't that impressive. What was interesting though, was the feeling he got when he looked at it.

It wasn't peace. It wasn't any one thing really. It was a whole host of emotions, ranging from rage, to happiness, to fear, to joy, and, most of all, hope. It was…weird.

It was as if one door promised an end. A happy end at that. The other promised something else. Something more. Something like…like an entire story.

Like another chance?

He couldn't help but laugh. So this was what it came down to: Heaven or another chance at life. It was an easy choice, really. Only a downright, brain-dead, complete and utter idiot would choose wrong here.

So he made his choice.

And smiled to himself as he pushed the door open.

He really was an idiot, wasn't he?


	2. A Beginning

Tiny pitter-patters sung a song of silence to the world. Thousands of them, falling from the heavens, embraced whatever they fell onto with self-destructive passion. Each individual pinprick joined to create pools that mirrored the grey sky above. These mirrors reverberated from every new impact, never ceasing, never calming.

Orbs of the clearest blue slowly revealed themselves to the world. They fluttered closed as the droplets fell on them. A hand came up to wipe tears that were not his own. They gained new height, shaking away the bleariness. The two gateways of cerulean scanned the surroundings around him.

Great giants of arbor surrounded him on all sides. Flashes of light momentarily illuminated the otherwise grey and wet world around him as the sky cried out with its numbing booms.

He looked down to finally notice the pitter-patter had included him as its perch as well. Immeasurable numbers of kisses pelted his skin as they eventually joined together to slither off of him. He could feel their weight clinging to his clothing, saturating the cloth to the point where the clear darkness visibly dripped from his jeans and sweater.

It was not a comfortable feeling.

He pressed his bare palms against the moist dirt, grunting as he pushed himself up onto his feet. Feeling the moisture within his brown boots, he sighed and looked around. Aside from the shrubbery and fallen lumber on the ground dotting the ground, nothing in particular caught his interest. He ran a hand through his golden locks and took a step forward in a random direct—

" **RRRRAAAAAGGGG!** "

A titanic crash followed the inhuman bellow that shook the very earth around him. His eyes caught the many flapping figures in the sky quickly darting toward the opposite direction of the sounds. A few forest animals scurried past him in the opposite direction of the noise.

There was screaming.

The smart thing to do would be to follow the animals. The natural thing to do would be to run away—as far away from those noises as possible. A deep part of himself told him to do just that.

He chose to do otherwise.

Dark jeans soaked between every fiber pumped full force through the forest green, over shrubbery, and past all the titans of arbor. Teardrops from the sky pelted his form—the discomfort he went through uncaring.

A break in the tree line brought him to a great wall. Forged from sturdy black stone, the wall extended high into the sky—far further than any human or animal could ever possibly conceive of jumping over.

Therefore, it was only natural that a gargantuan sized hole was smashed through the thing.

He rushed through the breach, taking a moment to marvel at just how a wall of stone halfway as thick as he was laying down was demolished.

When he entered, he saw hell.

Stone and brick buildings—people's homes—were crushed without prejudice. As if a child simply walked through a sand castle—that was the simplicity of the destruction of such livelihoods. And not a single one he saw was spared.

But hell isn't hell without souls.

He didn't stop to look. He couldn't stop to look. His mind did not allow him to stop and look. But his eyes still picked what no one should.

They weren't painless.

They weren't merciful.

They were everywhere.

Even through his brief glimpses, he saw bodies, eviscerated and forever screaming in silence. He saw corpses— bisected and framed in their feeble attempt to crawl away. He saw a sad acceptance on those that forever rested on shattered walls, a void of black where their hearts once were.

He pretended the black puddles along the broken cobblestone path he splashed through were just water. He couldn't tell where the rain started and the blood ended.

From afar, he saw the shine of metal from a mass of darkness.

His body carried him beyond all the carnage to an open square. With widened eyes, he skidded to a stop, his mind momentarily blanking to process just what he had run into.

What could only be described as a monstrosity, turned to the side to face him.

Eyes buzzed to capture every detail from where he stood just 20 meters away from the hulking figure. At least 2 stories tall, the abomination mimicked the human stance and stood upright on two clawed feet. Its left arm, grossly muscular to the point of its black skin literally ripping to show radiant orange, hung loosely at its side. It was the right that would give him nightmares later though.

Fixed upon the shoulder, two black avian wings twitched, their size large but still unable to give flight to their body. Upon the tricep behind the arm, a black ram's head twitched and stared forever ahead with an unblinking torch-like glow. Further down, the unholy musculature of the forearm housed 3 snake heads, each writhing in a feeble attempt to escape from themselves. Their gazes mimicked the ram's as their attached arm pulsed in an uneven rhythm.

The clawed hand of the monster was clenched around what looked to be a person, held in front of the most disturbing part of the beast. One enormous eye stretched vertically from just before the shoulder to just below the chest of the thing's right side. It focused its pupil on the struggling woman with such closeness to a human eye that it was altogether disturbing and wrong.

Its true head—a white mask that mimicked a human skull, yet retained the shape of normal human eyes—turned their eternal glow right at him.

Then it opened its mouth.

Like a zipper running down its entire chest, centipede-like tendrils uncurled themselves from their alternating pattern down the monstrosity as the vertical hole widened. Dagger like jaws lined the sides of the mouth. Only blackness was beyond that.

The monster moved its victim towards the opening.

He heard a painful voice.

"Fuck…you."

He saw one final twitch from the grey haired woman within the beast's grasp. Then all he saw was white.

It was at least 20 seconds later that he finally was able to come to his senses.

With ringing ears, he lowered his bare arms from his face, making himself witness to the destructive scene in front of him.

The earth below and around the colossus was completely cracked and charred, with some parts still glowing red from the heat. The ground and even the monstrosity itself gave rise to vast amounts of smoke, the rain doing its best to cool down the damage the sky had wrought.

The torch-like glow in the eyes of the beast was absent. It stood unmoving, the woman still clenched in its massive hand.

"Take…that…you…you son of…you son of a…ugh." Her form slumped to the side, her sentence left unfinished.

He watched as the monster made no move.

He watched as the monster did not let her go.

He watched as the golden glow returned to the monster's eyes.

He watched as the beast opened its horrifying jaws wide.

He watched as it began to move the woman into them.

He couldn't watch any more.

…

The monster's head, focused on the prey in hand, slowly swiveled to the side as if somehow unbelieving that the black sword imbedded in its wrist came from that direction.

By the time the colossus was able to complete its rotation, he was already at its side, swinging a massive halberd down onto its arm. Though barely going a few centimeters into the black skin, it was enough to bob the limb down a bit and release the woman.

He immediately abandoned the weapon and bolted, catching the woman before she hit the ground and not stopping until he made it to the nearest building.

With blood pumping in his skull every step of the way, he laid the woman down next to the wall, gritting his teeth all the while. When he made sure she was secure, he looked down at his twitching hands. They were red with pain.

He looked back at the direction of the beast. The monster was looking down at the two weapons still imbedded in its wrist with curiosity.

His eyes moved to all the different weapons that lied scattered about, steaming in the rain. No doubt they were blasted out from the beast's back when woman attempted to smite this unholy abomination.

His eyes flicked back to the beast as it finally moved. Raising its other hand, it plucked out the sword and halberd as if they were mere splinters and flicked them aside.

Its hauntingly empty eyes looked up at him.

It started walking towards him.

He gave one last look at the woman to his side and sighed.

He stood up.

He ran towards the beast.

The beast ran towards him.

The monster pulled back its massive left arm, cocking it high at its side. Just as his puny form reached within striking range, the colossus swung down. Its fist impacted the earth and the ground trembled around it. It tried looking at the human that had rolled away but found its arm imbedded in the stone halfway up the elbow.

With his target never being the monster, the dodge was easy. Reaching his objective, he hefted a blade that was as tall as he was and as wide as his forearm to his side. Ignoring the searing heat in his hands, he all but plodded to the beast's side, nearly dragging the weapon the short distance to the creature.

Heaving the thing over his shoulder, he slammed it down into its calf. It barely made it 4 centimeters into the tree trunk of a limb. He stood, gawking at how little he managed to do.

With one big jerk of its arm, the beast yanked itself free, taking the opportunity to swat the human that was poking it in the leg

Unprepared for his entirely ineffective attack and its counter, he took a massive backhand to his side. Sent flying, he hit the ground hard enough to hear something crack before his roll finally lost its momentum.

He found himself on his stomach, the world an ocean of dark colors. Vision swimming, he wiped away the liquid that had run down his head and blurred his eye. When the image refocused and he looked at the red on his hand, he promptly ignored it and turned attention back to the monster.

It stood up tall, some 30 meters away. It was slowly lumbering towards him.

Ignoring the pain in his left shoulder, his right arm pushed down on the ground beside him. His brows furrowed in confusion as his palm shaped itself over a rod-like object. Quickly looking down to the side, he marveled over the ornate black sword he had first thrown at the beast that was in his hand.

His hand clenched around its grip. Turning the black blade, he then plunged the thing that was as nearly as wide as his hand was at the base into the ground. He pushed himself up, taking in as he rose, the intricate gold design in the blade's center, the wing that replaced one side of the cross guard, and the thin metal guard piece that shaped over one side of the grip.

All in all, it was a beautiful sword.

He just wished he knew how to use it.

The colossus raised its right arm as it approached, looking as if meaning to grab him like a piece of trash off the street.

He pulled the sword out from the ground and turned it over in his right hand. He ran straight at the monster again, the abomination reaching down to grasp his tiny form.

He rolled to his left, stopping himself on the stone floor before lunging straight into the top of the midmost snake head on the thing's forearm. The blade sunk into it just a few centimeters.

 _ **No-…enough streng-… too muc-… -ngle on… -ists**_

The words blurred in his mind, him hearing them as if the old man who said them was right next to him.

 _ **Loo-… out…FOOL**_

He was brought out of his thoughts by the topmost snake head turning itself to face him, the line of its jaws now parallel with the ground. Without delay, the predator lunged from the arm, its steak knife long teeth aiming to dig right into his soft flesh.

His legs pushed him back from the bite, the sword still in his grip. As his attention focused on the now active snakes, he was left unprepared from the colossal ram horn that dug itself into the side of his stomach and thrashed him into the air.

The world lost all meaning.

 _Is tha-…all… -ave? Liste- …me. You nee-…-ccept us. Lis-…-EN…LISTE-…._ _ **LISTEN!**_

His eyes forced themselves open. His eyes darted around, trying to tell him just where he was. He felt the ground on his side, his arms lying in front of him. The rain hit his left side and the droplets rolled down to his right—every little twitch hurt.

He didn't want to look down at himself. Not at the empty pain on his left stomach. Not at the crack marks on the ground. He just looked ahead at the colossus that would kill him. It was walking over now. Slowly. Ever so slowly. He pitied his own existence and pretended the thing pitied him.

There was something in his mind, telling him something. Was it something important? It must have been, for it was loud. But even through the volume, the message sounded like it came from underwater. The words: unintelligible. Perhaps he was too damaged to even hear himself think.

The beast kneeled to pick him up.

It reached out, splayed its fingers apart, and—

"MOM!"

"LAEVINA NO!"

It stopped. Turning its head around, it couldn't have missed the two forms that kneeled around the downed woman he had saved earlier.

He could wait. He was dying.

The moving humans weren't.

From where he lay, he watched the monster lumber towards the three. He wanted to shout at them. To tell them to run far away. To leave this to him.

He wanted to help them.

 _ **Then why don't you?**_

He couldn't. His body was too injured, the pain—it was too much.

 _ **You know that isn't true. You can still move.**_

He couldn't fight this thing. He was just a fly to it. He couldn't hurt this thing even when he did his best.

 _ **Then why don't you let us give you a new best?**_

…

How?

There was no words that came with the answer. Rather, a message carved itself into his mind.

 _ **If thou dost wish to reach out, thine hands must be empty. A sacrifice must be made.**_

He had nothing to sacrifice. Nothing but…

…

Did he really want to sacrifice that?

…

Should he give up?

One figure stood in front of the other two. He saw the colossus stop in front of them. He saw it reach forward. Just one finger, long and sharp, passed through the protective form of the first. There was no resistance. It was like a body wasn't even there.

There was a scream—a feminine one. It came from one of the people behind the body that dropped to the ground.

Another little push forward. The screaming stopped. The body of the girl that was cradling the woman fell to the ground

 _ **Will you let this continue? Are you really the kind of man to allow this to happen in front of you?**_

He felt water in his eyes. This, he knew, did not come from the sky.

 _ **Are you willing to accept being useless?**_

…

…

…

"I don't care…what happens to this world."

The colossus looked back. The human it left was saying something on all fours.

He pulled one leg forward into a kneeling position. "You could rampage all you want. Destroy…" He pushed himself up onto his feet. "All the trees, and buildings, and crap you want. Everything."

With a painful groan, he lifted himself into a tall standing position, with his face to the sky. "But I refuse to let you take the lives that I try to protect." He grit his teeth as he laughed through painful breaths. "I won't let my actions be for nothing, even if it costs me everything." He finally looked straight into its hollow eyes.

"For their sake and for my own. I WILL PAY THAT PRICE!"

He felt the flame ignite.

From within his mind, down to his very soul, he could feel everything burning away. His hands reached up to cover his eyes as he screamed to the heavens. "Ghhuu, GHAAAA, DYAAAAA!" Like a movie reel, he saw an entire life go by, but instead of being stored away, they were burnt to nothing. The images—they wouldn't stop turning to ashes.

Snow white hair. Frosted blue eyes. Why couldn't we dance?

Amethyst orbs. Fiery golden locks. Why did you like to fight so much?

Moonlit stare, with a curtain of the sky without stars. Why did you hide?

Orange energy. Pure blue orbs. Why were you so happy?

Gentle pink flower across a black pond. Why were you so quiet?

Passionate green highlighted by such regretful red. Why couldn't we say what we needed?

And a red rose that twinkled with silver. Will you ever forgive me?

They all faded to ash.

He saw one final image. A girl he couldn't recognize. She held out her hand as she smiled. It was a going away smile—a smile one uses to say goodbye. She had tears in her silver eyes.

He watched it burn away into a white fire.

He panted as he dropped his hands. Gritting his teeth and all but snarling at the ground, he staggered a bit as his fists clenched at his sides. He looked up at the beast, his eyes actively glowing with a fierce blue light. Around his left eye, transparent white flames burned in hateful glory.

He breathed in deeply. "RHAAAAAAH!" It was a roar of equal parts pain and anguish.

The colossus took the first step forward. The next five were his.

During his stride, he picked up the black blade that had flown with him. The second he gripped the steel in his hand, the flames flared in his mind to show him new images.

A wise, greying man, who only wanted to make the world a bit brighter for the sake of the family he lost.

The tempered and experienced voice shouted in his ear. _**Throw it!**_

White flames outlined his body in the stature of the veteran as he hurled the sword at the beast.

As if sensing the danger that its nemesis now boasted, the colossus raised its right arm up in front of itself. The blade swiftly buried itself nearly to the hilt into the midmost snake head. He heard the pained roars of the other heads as he disappeared.

Materializing from thin air, he pushed both feet into the beast as he yanked the sword out from the arm. Carrying on with the motion, he threw it over his head, causing it to fly parallel to the ground, just as he was, standing on the arm.

He disappeared once more just as the beast reached around with its other hand to try and crush him.

He reappeared in front of the sword and caught it several meters away. He chucked it to the side as his hands grabbed the metal of the giant shuriken star lying on the ground.

He held onto two of the four small lance-like components that made up the star's points. The moment he did so, the fire in his soul danced to tell him a tale of the rogue that spurned the public and thrived in the shadows, willing to face the wetwork that society rejected, for the sake of society.

The thin woman's form outlined his as he twirled around to gain momentum. He jumped up and heaved the thing forward. Just before release, he heard the smug woman's voice in his ear. _**It's all in the wrist.**_

With grace and speed, the star soured through the air, finding a deep purchase within the topmost snake head on the still guarding arm.

The colossus once more roared out before breaking into a sloppy run at him. It reached him in no time. With a mighty slam of its right hand, it crushed the earth of where he once stood, cratering the ground and leaving a massive handprint in the stone.

It lifted up its hand a second later to look at its handiwork. Staining it was nothing but dirt.

The beast cried out as it fell onto its right knee. Through the ram's head on the back of the arm, it watched the human momentarily take the shape of an even larger human before slamming the thick and serrated sword he failed with before right through its calf, stopping three-fourths of the way through the entire leg.

Just before he disappeared to dodge the a backhand, he heard the titanic voice of the man who stood above others, wanting to lead the way for those who failed to step before him. _**Timber you son of a bitch.**_

He materialized next to the black blade he threw far behind the beast. He watched its grotesque hand as it did not stop, but rather, point right at him. The remaining snake head that had not yet lost its light erupted out of the arm, extending and opening its jaws to him.

He reached down and picked up the ornate tower shield with his left arm, readying himself as the woman who had used it to defend all she could did so many times before. _**Move with it!**_

He parried the attack with a slam across the serpent's snout, using the opening to shove his black blade right through the eyes of the thing. He ignored the cry of pain from the main body and jumped back to stand before a trident lodged in the ground.

He threw the shield toward his next target and paid no mind to the sound of scraping of metal on stone it left in its wake. He pulled the trident from the earth. The pictures of a beloved woman, traveling and healing more so than fighting, filled his mind as he pitched the weapon over his shoulder. He heard the gentle whisper in his ear. _**May your aim be true.**_

He hurled the polearm high into the sky before disappearing once more. When he reappeared, he grabbed onto the trident before twirling and letting it loose straight down. Again he disappeared and reappeared beside the weapon, this time to hold it in both hands with prongs facing downward. Barely a second later, he felt the impact on his arms as he used his weight and strength to drive the trident down into the monster's skull.

He felt and watched the polearm drive itself at least a fourth of itself into the skull before going no further. He wasted no time in vanishing again, this time materializing beside the shield he had thrown earlier. He did not pick it up. Instead, his arms hefted the great halberd he had already used once before.

Heavy footfalls replaced his once unsteady gait as he felt the familiarity of the weapon—the one that carried a man through so many hunts, all for the thrill of the conquest. _**ONE MORE!**_ With a mighty yell, he swung the blade down onto the human-like skull, burying it all the way through the damn thing's face.

He heaved out exhausted breaths as he looked up from the ground.

The massive eye on the chest was looking straight at him. He only had enough time for his eyes to widen as a truck sized fist drove itself into his right side, sending him into a sudden ascent.

He landed as a painful heap on the ground. Wasn't there supposed to be pain?

He felt cold.

He reached out his hand, trying to find feeling in something. As his hand fell on another rod-like object, he felt a warmth on the back of it. When he looked up, he saw the smile of a young and proud warrior, feeling the brotherly aura directed right at him. _**You look like you could use a hand.**_

He felt a hand curl his fingers around the grip of the blade. _**If it were any of us, we still wouldn't give up.**_

He looked around, seeing all the people who had shared their stories with him. He turned back to the one crouched beside him, with hand over his. _**You're our legacy now. You'll take our paths further than we ever could.**_ The figure stood up. _**Now then, this'll hurt. Like, the most pain you'll ever probably feel. But it'll let you finish things. You up for it?**_

He ground out with a pained smile. "What…kind of question…is that?"

 _ **That's the spirit. Let's do this together.**_

All at once, it felt like someone lit thermite in his veins. From his toes to his head, nothing was spared from the inner flames that burned toward the surface of himself. He couldn't tell if he was screaming or not. He couldn't tell if it was an eternity or a moment that this lasted. But it did end.

He pulled his left arm and legs under him, seeing the cracks in his skin. It was as if magma and flames threatened to burst through. He pushed himself up regardless, taking with him the enormous silver blade. Single-edged, just about as tall as himself, and just as wide as his forearm, he hefted the thing onto his shoulder. He looked about, finding his enemy removing the last of the weapons from itself.

"Ahem."

The beast turned to its side, no doubt catching sight of him. It let out a massive roar, whether out of hatred or just annoyance, he didn't know.

He brought the blade down in front of him, settling into such a familiar stance with one foot in front of the other. "I'm ending this."

The beast didn't answer. On its three working limbs, it barreled straight at him, crawling like something straight out of a nightmare. He stayed put.

Shadows darted from the sides of his vision.

A sword impaled itself in its skull.

A shuriken tore into its massive eye.

A gargantuan blade slammed into its left shoulder.

A tower shield halted its jaws.

A trident buried itself into its right shoulder.

A halberd dug into its left thigh.

He saw the forms of the people he had taken strength from, holding their weapons, keeping the abomination still, albeit barely. Each turned to smile at him. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn't have to turn to know who it was—the man who just wanted to be a hero.

He ran forward. White flames wreathed themselves around his form as he hefted the sword to his side. The beings holding their weapons vanished just as he reached the face of the creature.

Using a speed that was altogether unnatural for a blade its size, he swung across its face, cleaving right through the top half of the skull mask. Bringing it back around, he swung through more muscle and tissue, decapitating it and its neck completely before swinging down and leaving a massive gash in the area before the beast's left shoulder.

With sword on the ground, he spun and lifted the blade to slash into the area to the right of the neck, and once more brought it down to leave an even deeper wound right into where its mouth started.

He jumped back. Flipping the blade so its point faced downward, he stared at the mess of the opponent he was facing. The weapons were still holding it back. He sunk into his stance.

With one fluid motion he leapt up high.

He descended.

The end of his descent had him impact the monster, and in the moment that he did, he plunged the enormous sword deep into its center. Gritting his teeth, he pushed it, further and further as the monstrosity flailed and wailed. The cries went ignored as he kept pushing.

The creature gave a scream that no man should ever hear.

It slowed down its flailing.

It stopped moving.

He stopped killing.

Atop its mountainous form, his form slackened. He greedily gulped for air. Around him, black ashes fluttered to the sky.

He stared at the heavens, letting the rain wash off at least some of the blood and sweat over his form.

He leapt off the corpse. His legs nearly faltered as he landed, with him barely being able to keep himself standing. He turned all around before seeing the trio of bodies lying on the ground. He sighed. With slow and agonizing steps, he walked over.

Every foot forward was another loss in focus of his sight. Every movement was another threat to his balance. Every second was another attack to his consciousness.

But he still had more to do.

He couldn't remember why. He couldn't remember from where he could. But a tiny fragment of what could possibly be his self told him he was able to do it. And that was enough for him.

 **One last gift buddy. You earned it.**

One step forward.

An old veteran's voice. _**For it is in action we achieve a legacy.**_

Another step forward.

A peppy woman's words. _**Through this, we become a paragon of duty**_

One more step.

A towering bellow. _**And strength, to stand above all.**_

A few more footfalls.

A caring and protective voice. _**Infinite in love**_

Almost there.

A gentle and compassionate song. _**And unbound by destiny.**_

Just one more step.

A fierce command. _**We release your soul**_

He fell to his knees, before falling onto his stomach. He reached out, covering the pile of hands that lay lovingly over each other.

A confident and proud voice. _**And by our hearts, give thee everything.**_

The world turned black once more.


End file.
